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Last week, I posted a pic of my Vevor setup. I just finished my first brew and these are my thoughts so far (lemmy.zip)
submitted 1 month ago by to c/homebrewing@sopuli.xyz
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The controller is super easy to use and you probably don't even need to read all the instructions to operate it.

My biggest issue was with the grain. It was too thick for the bottom screen. So I was unable to use the top screen since I had to use my spatula to keep the grain from caking up during the mash. I had to stir up the grain every five minutes or so.

I ended up with 1.060 gravity, which is exactly what I was looking for, so I'm pretty happy with that . It took about 50 minutes to reach mash temp and about the same to reach boil.

It's currently sitting in the fermentor. I expect it to ferment for four days. But I plan to condition it for at least a week before kegging.

BTW, the beer I brewed is an English stout.

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[–] 12 points 1 month ago

I’m working hard to convince myself I don’t need this, I won’t use it, and I don’t have space, and extract brewing is just fine for what I need. Since the original post, that is. Good luck with the fermentation, I’m following along.

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    [–] 9 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    Consider adding rice hulls to the mash!

    I've found it helps immensely with preventing a stuck mash/sparge.

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    • [–] 2 points 1 month ago* (1 child)

    Sounds like the crush was too fine on the grain. IDK if you milled it yourself, but you don't want it like flour, more like very coarse sand.

    I find stouts harder to sparge in any case.

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    • [–] 2 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    I’m trying to decide between a Vevor that I love and tweak versus a Grainfather where I have to use my brain less. I’d be curious to know whether you evaluated anything else, what your thoughts would be. I own other Vevor products and love that they’re dead basic, repairable, modifiable, and cheap, but I’m cautious about using them for my brewing setup.

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 1 month ago

    A friend of mine has a Clawhammer system that I've used a few times. His is a modular setup and honestly, the Vevor is more simple to use. When I first got the system, I ran a batch of just water with the intention of checking and calibrating the controller. It's very easy to use with only a quick look at the instruction book and all the temps were dead on out of the box. The Clawhammer controller needed several hours of testing and calibrating. The one big advantage the Clawhammer has is a full mesh grain basket. The Vevor has a steel basket with a perforated bottom, which makes getting your efficiency a little more work.

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